Lubrication



i Jan. 2l, 1930. M,r A, KRETCHMAR 1,744,390

gx g! 6 mi LUBRICATION Filed NOV. 14, 1927 Hlllllllll- Patented Jan. 2l,1930 UNITED STATES inane PATENT GFFICE MAX A, KRE'IGHMAR, OF HERKIMER,NEW YORK, ASSIG-NOR '.'LO HORROCKS DESK COMPANY, OF IIERKIMER, NEVI"YORK, .A CORPORATION 0,1? NEW YORK LUBRICATION .Application 4filedNovember 14, 1927. Serial No. 2331125.

This invention relates to lubrication, and particularly to lubricationof journals by the use of a capillary wick which is held in contact withthe journal.

Inorder to cause such wick to function properly it is necessary that thewicking be forced against thejournal with appropriate pressure and thatthe support be so arranged that it will follow up and compensate forwear of the wick.

The present invention provides a supporting device for such a wickapplicable to existing journal boxes having oil cellars and so designedas tol sustain itself in position and to exert upon the wick thenecessary pressure throughout the useful life of the wick.

The invention is applicable, with slight modification, to somewhatdifferent types of bearing box but will be illustrated as applied to thebearing box commonly used for the motor shaft of electric street cars.Such an application of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which,"

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a portion of the box with the oil cellarand one of the two bearing brasses showing the lubricating wick and itssupporting means in position.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 viewed in the direction ofthe arrows. In this view the wick is omitted to avoid obscuring thedrawing.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the supporting means in its normaland unfiexed position.

In the drawing 6 represents the removable portion of a bearing box whichis of the separable type. This box carries a bearing bushing or brassformed in two parts, one of which is shown at 7. The box 6 contains anoil cellar 9 to which access is had by opening a lid 11 normally he-ldclosed by a spring 12. The cellar 9 is adapted to contain oil at a levelbelow the lower side of the journal 13. The removable portion 6 of thebearing box is held in operative position by bolts which pass throughthe holes 14 at the upper side and a bolt which passes through the hole15 at the lower side. To afford clearance for the removal of the boltwhich passes through the hole 15 the bottom of the oil cellar 9 isarched or internally ribbed, as indicated at 16.

Boxes of the type just described were known prior to my invention. Insuch boxes as heretofore used, the cellar contained oil i torylubrication and greatly increased milei.

age have been secured with other types of box by the use, in lieu ofwaste, of a combined metal and cotton wick constructed in accordancewith the patent to Simmons, 1,122,037, issued December 22, 1914;

In order to use such a wick successfully I provide the supporting meansfor the wick which forms the subject matter of the present application.This supporting means consists of a strip 18 of resilient steel, whichcarries riveted to it at one end, a cross bar 19, of any suitablematerial, conveniently brass. This member 19 acts against the inner wallof the cellar 9 opposite to the ournal 13, and

is of such length that it extends approxi-` mately from end to end ofthe cellar and thus serves to center the strip 18. The opposite end ofthe strip 18 is provided with a bowed or forked extension 21 whichstraddles the arch or rib 16 in the bottom of the cellar.

Between the ends of the strip 18 and adj acent the forked member 21 thestrip 18 is provided with a wick-supporting table, here shown as formedof two abutting sections 22. The purpose in forming the table insections is to maintain the flexibility of the strip 18 at the point ofattachment of the table. Other expedients for this purpose may obviouslybe used. The wick-supporting table is diinensioned as a whole to passfreely through the opening 17 in the brass 7 so that under the resilientpressure exerted by the strip 18 when bowed upwardly in the cellar 9, asshown clearly in Fig. 1, the table may follow up the wick regardless ofwear throughout the useful life of the wick.

In order to retain the wick in place each end of each of the members 22is formed with a notch 23 slightly smaller than the normal transversedimension of the wick, and defined at their ends by downwardly turnedprongs 24 which have projections 5 extending toward each other, servingto constrict the entrance to the notch 23. The wick 26, which ispreferably of the type described in the Simmons patent beforeidentilied, is applied to the table by winding it around the same andcrowding the wick into the notches 23.

If it is desired to feed a large quantity of oil the wick, after it isdrown tightly across the top of one member 22 and engaged with thenotches in both ends thereof, is looped loosely and drawn across theother member 22 and pressed into the notches thereof. The effect is toproduce a loose bight of the wick which together with the two endportions of the Wick, offers four oil feeding paths from the cellar tothat portion of the wick which contacts the journal.

If a less quantity of oil is to be fed, the intervening bight or loopmay be taken up, in which case the wicking is in eifect wrapped one andone-half turns around the members 22. In this case the bight lies soclosely beneath the table that it does not enter the oil in the cellarand consequently there are only two feeding paths for oil from thecellar to the portion of the wick which contacts the journal, i. e., thepaths offered by the two end portions of the wick. Whichever way thewick is applied the operative principle is the same, and the differentways of applying the wick are described only to indlcate the possibilityof varying the feeding rate.

The backwardly turned prongs or projections 23 not only retain the wickin place but they also serve to guide the wick supporting tablerelatively to the opening in the brass and to limit the wear on the wickWhere the latter is drawn into the notches. Obviously the form of thewick retaining prongs may be modified somewhat without sacrificing theadvantages above described.

What is claimed is 1. The combination of a journal box having a bearingelement and an oil cellar; a journal turning therein having a portionexposed within said box; a resilient member mounted in bowed form withinsaid cellar with its ends in thrust engagement with the walls thereof; awick retaining structure mounted on said member between the endsthereof; and a wick retained by said structure and held by theresilience of said resilient member in thrust engagement with theexposed portion of said journal.

2. The combination of a journal box liavlng a bearing element and an oilcellar the latter formed with an inward-extending rib; a journal turningin said bearing having a portion exposed within said box; a wicking msaid cellar arranged to contact with the exposed portion of saidjournal; and a support for said wicking comprising a resilient bowedstrip having at one end a thrust member which engages one side of thecellar and at the other end a retaining member which straddles said rib,and a wick supporting thrust platey mounted on said strip between itsends and having Wick retaining projections.

3. The combination of a journal box having a bearing element and an oilcellar, the latter formed with an inward-extending rib; a journalturning in said bearing having a portion exposed within said box; awicking in said cellar arranged to contact with the exposed portion ofsaid journal; and a support for said wicking comprising a resilientbowed strip having at one end a thrust member which engages one side ofthe cellar and at the other end a retaining member which straddles saidrib, and a wick-supporting table mounted on said strip between its ends,said table having wick-receiving notches and wick-retaining prongsprojecting approximately at right angles to the wick-supporting face ofsaid table.

4. A resilient wick support for use in journal boxes, comprising incombination a resilient strip having at one end laterally projectingextensions to center the strip in a box and at the other end a forkedmember to straddle a rib in said box; and a wicksupporting table mountedon said strips adjacent the last named end, and having wickreceivingnotches with wick-.receiving prongs extending substantiallyperpendicular to said table and serving to constrict the entrance tosaid notches.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

MAX KRETCHMAR.

